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The Forgotten

Name: The Forgotten
Director: Daria Onyshchenko
Released: 2019
Duration: 105 min

Representation Score

6.4/10

Good

2019

Director

Daria Onyshchenko

Runtime

105 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The film focuses on resistance against systemic erasure within a geopolitical conflict zone. It succeeds in subverting traditional power dynamics by centering women's ability to drive the story and the defense of ethnic identity. By framing state institutions as antagonists to individual autonomy, the narrative aligns with progressive themes of challenging institutional hegemony. The protagonists represent the struggle for cultural survival against forced assimilation. However, the film's scope is narrow. While it excels in cultural and gendered ability to act, it lacks representation for LGBTQ+ identities and characters with disabilities, focusing instead on a specific sociopolitical struggle.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Forgotten have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film does not explicitly depict LGBTQ+ identities or relationships outside of straight-centered structures. Its focus is on the sociopolitical struggle for national identity and survival.

How does The Forgotten portray gender?

Good

Nina plays a significant role in driving the story with her intellect and courage, defying an occupying force to protect a student. She challenges traditional hierarchies and embodies moral resistance.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Forgotten?

Good

The story centers on preserving Ukrainian linguistic and ethnic identity. It highlights the struggle for sovereignty against a dominant, occupying cultural force.

How does The Forgotten represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The film critiques systemic corruption and oppressive state institutions, prioritizing the truth of occupied subjects over monolithic, state-imposed morality.

Does The Forgotten include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no prominent characters identified with visible or invisible disabilities. No specific data is available to assess representation in this category.

Present on Screen

Elevates women's ability to drive the story by positioning Nina as a courageous leader in a high-stakes conflict.
Strong focus on preserving ethnic and linguistic identity against cultural erasure.
Provides a compelling critique of corrupt state institutions and systemic injustice.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation or character arcs for LGBTQ+ identities.
Provides no visible or invisible disability representation within the narrative.
The narrow focus on geopolitical conflict limits broader diversity of identity.

Official Synopsis

Nina, 30, a Ukrainian language teacher who can't leave the city of Luhansk, occupied by separatists in Eastern Ukraine, is forced to undergo retraining courses for teaching Russian. Andrii, 17, is a student who was orphaned in the aftermath of the war. They cross paths when Nina witnesses Andrii being arrested by the police after hanging the Ukrainian flag from the roof of his school. Nina knows that because they live in a world of injustice and lies Andrii can stay in jail for a long time, and she risks her life to free him. As they gravitate towards each other, they try to remind people in the occupied territories that they deserve a future, too.

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